FINALLY got to see an Olympic hockey game, and what a game! ESPN has the broadcast rights for Latin America, so each morning I’ve been watching the salad of events they present. The announcers try hard, but these guys are more accustomed to calling a game where 22 men in shorts run around kicking a ball. It’s quite obvious they’ve taken crash courses in winter Olympic events. One day they had curling on for about 45 minutes. All I could think of was, “What a waste of a sheet of ice.” The guys doing the USA – Russia game today actually did a pretty good job, although at one point they made reference to the LA Kings being the reigning Stanley Cup champions.

Regarding the game, I love the larger ice surface. Wish the NHL would go to that, but it would probably mean removing too many paying seats from the arenas. The penalty shots added excitement, though I wish they couldn’t send the same player out again and again.